Deep Breaths
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and seventy-three: Sam is nervous about it, but he works toward asking her out on a date.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 32nd cycle. Now cycle 33!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

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><p><strong>"Deep Breaths"<br>Sam & Nell, Sam/Rachel  
>Sequel to "It's a two-way matter" <strong>

He didn't know what it was about her that made him so nervous, but ever since he'd made up his mind to do what he was about to do that day, he had become unable to hold her gaze. After a few seconds, he had to break eye contact, even just a moment, so he could concentrate again. He knew if he didn't do that then she'd know right away that something was going on, and he didn't want that. She probably already thought he'd gone mad, but that was better than letting anything out prematurely. He wanted to do this right and so far the opportunity hadn't come.

He'd been having these feelings for her for a while now, but he'd never taken it anywhere beyond becoming friends with her so far. He supposed with his recent experiences he just wanted to be careful this time around, but even then… Everything about his relationship with Rachel so far had been out of the ordinary… Maybe that was who she was. All he knew was that now he was ready, now he had to do it… Now he was going to ask her out.

The only reason he hadn't done it yet was due to scheduling issues. He still wasn't too keen on leaving Nell with anyone but his mother, and these days there was just no way for her to watch her so he waited, and avoided Rachel's gaze, and waited, and went over his 'plans', and waited… again…

But finally his mother had come and told him she could watch Nell, that coming Friday night. Now he just had to get on and do it… If it wasn't enough to hope that she'd say yes, he had to hope that she'd say yes and that she would be free on Friday night. As much as Rachel was good with Nell, he didn't think having the baby there on their date would be a good idea.

It wasn't until the day came for him to actually go and ask her that he stopped and considered the idea of… What if she says no?

He liked to think that she felt something for him, too, but the truth was he had no idea. Yes, they had grown as friends, these last few weeks, and the way she just smiled at him sometimes… But what if that was all it was? What if he had it all wrong about her? What if all she saw him as, all she'd ever see as was a friend? It might end up that in asking her this then she would be unable to look at him anymore and they wouldn't be friends anymore? That just planted images of Nell in his head, crying because she missed her lullaby friend? She didn't even go to sleep anymore unless they played one of her CDs, of which there were now four.

He did his best to push those thoughts as far away from himself as possible, because this was the day he would ask out Rachel Berry… his surprise girl… and if he was honest with himself, he wanted to believe in a good outcome more than anything else.

Now that he wanted to find her, to talk to her, she seemed almost impossible to find. Once or twice he thought he saw flashes of her, but she always disappeared before he could get to her. Finally he decided it was time to leave the chase and be more… proactive. He sent her a text, asking that she meet him at his locker. He'd barely managed to send it and then he heard the message tone, from her phone, and he realized… she was right around the corner. He looked over his shoulder just as she turned the corner, still looking at the phone… smiling. She looked up and startled in time to keep from bumping into him.

"Sam… Hi!" she breathed out, putting her phone away, pushing her hair behind her ears. "You… wanted to see me?"

"Wanted to talk to you, actually… wanted to ask you something."

"Okay, she nodded, then, "Oh! I wanted to tell you something, too. I was thinking what if I did a CD of lullabies in other languages. She's small, she could absorb them, and…"

"Rachel?" he cut in, smiling.

"Sorry," she bowed her head shyly. Seeing her like this, it was like he knew, like she gave him his answer already, that and the smile he'd caught, when she didn't know he was in front of her. And now… he wasn't afraid.

"Are you busy Friday night?"

"Uh… no, I don't think so…" she thought about it, then, "I'm free, why?"

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in having dinner."

"Oh, right, the thing you wanted to try with Nell…" she recalled.

"No, not that, and not at my house, just… just you and me, at a restaurant…" He watched as realization dawned on her… 'as in a date…' He watched her face change, something passing over her features like a barely contained freak-out that only escaped as a low squeak. She tried to bite it back, but it was out, and he smiled. "Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a yes to me calling your name, or to… the question?" he asked. She took a moment, breathing out, like she was preparing for what she would say next.

"For my name…" she paused. "Yes… That one's for the question."

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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